The Road to Uchiha
by Nadine25
Summary: In which Sakura bares her soul, discovers that all Uchiha are jerks, and somehow lives to tell about it. And in the process, she learns more about Itachi than she could possibly handle.
1. First Encounters

It happened so many years ago that it almost felt like it had been a dream. But it did happen, or so she thinks.

It had been the start of the spring when it happened, and the flowers were in full bloom, as Konoha celebrated the annual spring festival held outdoors amidst vast expanses of greenery.

There was a definitive lull to everyone's step. They seemed not to be in a hurry to get anywhere. And why would they be, given that the current scenery appeared to have been stolen right out of heaven.

Fresh air brushed past the festival goers, and almost everyone sighed in bliss as they were enveloped in the invigorating scent of freshly cut glass mingled with the spring flowers.

In the vicinity, little kids chased after tiny flower petals, as said petals floated with the breeze.  
Perfection, is the word that better sums up the scene at hand.

And everyone was relaxed.

Well, almost everyone.

A little girl, with hair the color of Sakura petals stood out from the crowed not because of the peculiar hair color, but rather because she was evidently more rigid than anyone in the vicinity.

She stomped forwards in determination, adamant on not letting the calming weather distract her from what she knew she had to achieve.

She has waited for a very long time and if she doesn't move now, the 13 year old knew that she would live to regret it.

She sure as hell wasn't about to let her adversary beat her to her target. Especially now that she is certain that it was her destiny she was racing towards.

With that in mind the girl soldiered through the laid back crowd.

A few seconds passed where she had to avoid being drawn in by many a persistent merchant and a few overly enthused activity coordinators, Sakura finally arrived at her destination and came to a stop, her eyes fixed on the figure that she has been seeking out.

He stood under a branching Sakura tree. The late afternoon sun, setting behind the tree, seemed to imbue the entire scene with a rather surreal air.

The girl sighed as she pondered what she knew she needed to do. She had no other choice but to go through with it, but this didn't make it any less risky or terrifying.

Absently she noted another figure standing next to him by the tree. But at the moment, everything else hardly mattered.

At least his intimidating presence has ensured that everyone else, other than the person standing next to him, maintained a few steps between them. He always had that effect on people. He was deadly and serious. And she was proud to be one of the few people who admired him for it and didn't mind in the least if his grumpiness happened to be taken out on her.

Steeling herself, she walked forwards in a halting manner.

She was almost too shaky to function as she came to a stop in front of him.

His eyes were cast forwards, and he didn't seem to want to shift his attention to her. Not that she would have known, given that she kept he eyes fixed on the ground beneath her feet.

It was just too much to expect her to do this. She was mortified. But she knew that she wanted this, she needed this, and her life depended on this.

With freshly found courage she looked up, eyes glistening with determination, and cheeks stained red with embarrassment.

"Sasuke-Kun," She started, before waiting patiently as her teammate took his sweet time shifting his bored attention to her. He said nothing in response and she saw it fit to push on. "I... I..." She tried but it was too hard to say, so she figured she'd break the ice first. "What do you think of my Kimono?"

Sakura questioned coyly, leaving out the 'I'm wearing it just for you' part.

Sasuke's eyes snapped back to the horizon where they have been lingering before.

She shifted on her feet as she registered the fact that he wasn't about to answer her.

"Umm... Ano..." The girl stuttered. It's not like she wasn't used to his antics. But she was hoping things would be slightly different today what with the relaxing atmosphere and everything. After all, she needed all the encouragement she could muster in order to blurt out what she needed to say.

"How much longer do we have to stay here?" She heard Sasuke ask someone behind her.

"At least 5 more minutes." A voice replied, and Sakura was so entranced by Sasuke and the sexy lilt of his voice to even care who he was speaking to.

At the other person's response, the Uchiha seemed grumpier than before, and Sakura absently realized that if she had any hopes of getting what she wanted to say out, she needed to say it within the next 5 minutes.

"Ano, Sasuke-kun," she tried again.

Completely ignoring her, Sasuke turned once more to the person standing behind her.

"I will walk around for the remaining five minutes." He declared, and much to her horror, Sakura watched as he turned to leave.

Her heart started pounding and before she knew what she was doing, her hand shot out to grab hold of his, effectively halting him mid motion.

Finally his eyes snapped to hers.

She faltered, and blushed again, yet she retained her hold.

He glared at her, not even bothering to ask what she wanted.

"I... I... I..." She tried, but the words felt like they refused to come out.

A second later he had snagged his arm out of her hold, and was ready to completely ignore her once more and just walk away.

Sakura's eyes widened; breath quickening as she started operating on mere impulse, "Sasuke-Kun, I love you." She declared, and she didn't expect her voice to come out that loud.

Almost instantaneously all the chatter around them seemed to cease and the otherwise unencumbered festival goers shifted their attention discreetly to the unfolding scene.

Sakura held her breath as Sasuke momentarily stopped moving.

She smiled as he almost turned his head towards her.

But much to his dismay, he didn't complete that motion.

A second later, she was almost too dumbstruck to register the fact that he just walked on like she hadn't just said anything.

Shock froze her to the spot, as she watched him go and slowly chatter broke all around her, as people whispered not too kind things about her.

Vaguely, Sakura noticed that her entire body was shaking with pent up anger, and before she knew it, she had lunged upwards, dislocated a particularly heavy branch of the Sakura tree, and flung it at Sasuke's retreating figure. If he had even remotely expected her to do such a thing, he would have parried, but as it stands, he realized it way too late and was promptly knocked face first to the ground.  
Sakura continued to shake, as the chatter that just started, immediately stopped. And it only took her one more instant to realize what she just did, as she watched Sasuke struggle to his feet and turn towards her with a murderous look in his eyes. She had never behaved that way towards him before. As a matter of fact, never in her life had she put on such a display, period.

"Ummm... I ... ah... I am... I mean..." She muttered, not really sure what she should be thinking or feeling at the moment. She considered retreating as the Uchiha looked like he was about ready to lunge himself at her, his face a mixture of rage and utter mortification.

"We are leaving, Sasuke." Came a command from behind her and for the first time she saw the person accompanying Sasuke.

At that, Sasuke instantaneously regained his bored demeanor, and in an effort to preserve his dignity he started walking away like nothing was important enough about the situation at hand to merit his interest.

Sakura shifted her attention to the man who was walking towards her.

He looked like Sasuke, but not really. He was taller, evidently a few years older, and there was something about his demeanor that spoke of great power and unparalleled restraint.

She watched him silently as he passed her by.

He was looking straight forwards, which made it that much more startling when his hand discreetly shot up and ruffled her hair.

Her eyes widened, and she immediately looked up, but his hand was gone and he was already a few steps in front of her, walking after Sasuke.

Sakura blinked confusedly.

Did she just imagine that?

Well, she had to have imagined it, since no one else appeared to have noticed the rather brisk, potentially fictitious, move.

Deflating, Sakura stalked towards the tree and sank to the ground, leaning back against the trunk. She didn't even care what anyone thought at the moment.

"I hate my life."

* * *

**This story has been nagging at me to write it for a long time. Eventually, I couldn't hold out anymore and I had to put my other story on hold, succumb to its incessant pleas, and give it a life of its own.**

**This is not meant to be a long story; as a matter of fact I think that two or three more chapters will suffice to see it through.**

**I hope you guys liked it; I would really appreciate it if you let me know what you think, and if you would like to read more of this. I hope you would since I have already started working on the next chapter :D**

**Please Review.**


	2. True Lies

By the time dawn rolled around, Sakura found herself stirring restlessly in bed.

What kind of moron does something like that, what could have possibly possessed her to throw a branch at Sasuke?

A little voice in her head was gloating victoriously, saying that the bastard had rightfully deserved it, *how dare he snub me like that. Who on earth does he think he is?*

This made her both sad and embarrassed, not to mention disappointed.

She had once and again envisioned this moment in her head.

She had convinced herself that beneath his icy exterior beats the heart of a true romantic, and that the moment she confessed to him, sweet music would flood their senses, before they slowly move towards each other and embrace heatedly.

Sakura knew, of course, that he had refused so many confessions before. She's seen it happen too. Many a brave filly had gathered her courage and approached him after their training sessions, and Sakura got to stand back and wear a huge grin on her face as she watched him turn them down. He was never nice about it either. His modus operandi was to either walk away, or offer a very cold: "not interested" to the previously hopeful bachelorettes.

She imagined, however, that she was different. She was his teammate after all. And while he still was cold towards her, he wasn't as frigid as he was to other girls.

The girl thought that maybe, just maybe, that meant that she was different and that he cared. It was no secret after all that he preferred her company to Naruto's. That had to mean something.

But obviously, it didn't.

Sighing, Sakura sat up and covered her face, mortified.

What was she thinking going up to him like that?

She had been goaded into it by Ino, who claimed that she too was about to confess to Sasuke. Sakura thought that if she beat her to the punch, she'd end up riding into the sunset with Sasuke while Ino balled her eyes out. What a sweet ending that would have been.

Little did she know she'd end up rejected in the midst of packed festival.

And what on earth made her attack him? She had been possessed that's for sure.

She was never that forceful. Her training with the Hokage must be changing her.

Absently, she wondered whether she'd grow up to be a short tempered, violent gambler like her sensei.

She shook her head, asserting that she was much more composed. She'll never be that violent.

Sighing again, Sakura hopped off her bed. Evidently, she wasn't gonna get any sleep, so she might as well go for a walk to clear her mind.

A few minutes later the girl found herself at the festival grounds. The place was deserted now, everyone having gone home after a day of serene enjoyment.

She frowned at the memory and wondered at what had brought her here of all places. For all she knew she should just avoid this place till the end of her days. Why would any sane person possibly return to the site of their public humiliation?

But for the life of her, she just couldn't help but retrace her steps towards the giant tree where Sasuke was standing.

She sighed, coming to a stop in front of it.

A huge tree, standing solemnly in the midst of a giant field. Now that she thinks about it, it does seem quite depressing.

And a bit scary too, now a few minutes before sunrise, with everything dim and lifeless.

She ran a hand through her hair.

Maybe she should go back...

"Leaving already?" A voice snapped her out of her trance.

Sakura blinked, realizing to her horror, that she had completely missed the fact that someone else had been there all along.

She jumped slightly as he moved out of the shadows and hopped off of the tree branch, landing almost too gracefully right in front of her.

"You are... You are..." She paused, "Who are you?" She asked the man.

"You don't know who I am?" His voice, calm and steady, questioned.

"Not really, I saw you this morning with..." She trailed off, nope, not gonna mention Sasuke... Wound's too fresh.

The man in front of her eyed her silently, yet somehow she felt like his gaze had pierced right through her thoughts.

"If you can't even speak his name, then how do you expect to face him?" He questioned, turning on his heel and heading for the tree.

She watched him, pursing her lips together.

"I don't know." She said easily, a hint of sadness slipping into her tone.

"Hmm." He intoned, leaning back casually against the trunk of the tree.

"Why are you upset?" He questioned. "Is it because he refused you, or do you regret attacking him?"

Sakura stiffened.

"This is none of your business." She said, balling her fists and taking a few steps forwards.

"If it is none of my business, then why are you talking to me?" The mysterious man pointed out, his demeanor calm and unassuming.

Sakura paused, not really wanting to admit to herself that she needed to vent.

"You're the one talking to me." She snapped back childishly.

At that, the stranger gave her a slow smirk, and she felt all her attention being captured.

"Come here." He offered extending a hand.

Sakura eyed said hand wearily, but when she shifted her attention to his eyes she felt too curious and entranced to not walk his way.

She came to a stop right in front of him and gazed up into his eyes.

He shifted his gaze to his hand beckoning for her to take it.

Sakura swallowed, not really knowing why but extending her hand nonetheless.

Her hand looked so small in his, and without hesitation, as if he knew she'd do it all along, he closed his hand around hers.

Sakura had to stifle a gasp when he drew her to him flipping them ever so slightly so that she found herself falling down only to land, rather swiftly, in his lap.

Almost instantaneously the girl started thrashing around in an attempt to free herself from his hold.

Her attempts, however, proved futile, as the man beneath her was experiencing no trouble keeping her in place.

He leaned back against the trunk of the tree and situated her much smaller frame so that she was leaning against him, with her head resting under his chin.

"Pervert!" She accused, after a few minutes of desperately trying to free herself.

"I believe this to be the first time I have ever been called that." He said and Sakura was starting to get used to that impassive way he spoke.

"Well you are!"

"Why is that?"

She glared forwards, since she couldn't really direct her glare at him, "I'm 13 you moron! What are you, like 90? Shishou says that people go to prison for that." She stated matter of factly.

"I see." He intoned easily, a hint of carefully masked humor in his voice. "I am 17."

She paused a bit, "So? Doesn't make it right."

"Doesn't make what right?" He questioned and she had to take a second to steady herself as his breath brushed by her ear as he spoke. Absently she wondered at what has gotten into her.

"Doesn't make what you're doing right." She argued.

"And what exactly am I doing?"

"I don't know." She said honestly. What was she supposed to make out of a guy suddenly pulling her into his lap?

"Since you don't know, how can you possibly say for sure that what I am doing is wrong?"

"Because you are a pervert."

"I beg to differ, Sakura." The man spoke in a low tone, and Sakura's eyes grew wide at the mention of her name.

"How do you know my name?" She piped up, struggling in his lap again.

He effortlessly neutralized her attempts.

"I know a lot about you." He said enigmatically, and Sakura's attention was suddenly drawn to his hands; in one hand he held a piece of wood, and turning her attention to the other she noticed a weird looking knife with a huge wooden handle and a smaller blade.

Sakura gawked, how on earth is it possible that she hasn't noticed this before?

And how could he have managed to restrain her and keep her in place if he had those in his hands all along.

"Genjutsu?" Sakura questioned, and if she had been facing him she would have seen a very rare smile cross his face.

"Not exactly." He said evenly, he paused for a second, and Sakura watched as he brought the knife to the piece of wood and started carving it, slowly and ever so precisely.

The action was rather calming and her eyes drifted back and forth with the knife, even as a small voice in the back of her head called her an idiot for remaining in the man's lap and instructed her to panic.

"Have you ever tried whittling, Sakura?" He questioned, yet again much too close to her that she felt the rumbling of his chest as he spoke.

She shook her head, almost entranced by the motions of his hands. Scratch that, she _was_ in a trance.

A second later, the piece of wood was placed gently in her hand, as he put the knife in the other.

He closed his hands around hers and guided them together so that she was copying the motions she had previously watched.

Sakura kept her eyes on her hands, something was really strange about this, about this man and about the fact that she was willingly sitting in his lap when the sane thing to do was to scream or even try to fight.

Moments passed and Sakura sat calmly by, watching him guide her hands.

"Tell me, why are you upset?" He questioned.

She sighed.

"I made a fool out of myself." Sakura declared, what use was it lying to him when she had already let him that close.

"Do you regret telling him?"

"Yes." She said simply. "I thought it would be different, I thought he'd be nicer."

"Has he ever been nice to you?"

"No."

She sighed.

"You must think that I'm such an idiot." She said relaxing further against him.

"It doesn't matter what I think." The stranger stated. "What do you think?"

"I don't think I'm an idiot." She said heatedly.

"Then you are not."

She grinned. "Right."

A few more minutes passed in silence intermitted only by the steady sounds of wood being chipped. "I shouldn't have hit him though, should I?"

The man beneath her paused for a few seconds before saying, "Should you?"

She sighed.

"He kinda deserved it. But violence isn't the answer, right?"

At that, the man dropped his head slightly so that his cheek touched hers, "You tell me." He whispered.

Sakura's face flushed beet red and her eyes widened.

"Pervert!" She declared again, once more attempting to get free. Her attempts were ineffectual though as his arms wrapped around her enchaining her in place, until she calmed down enough, after which he replaced the knife in her hand and resumed his previous ministrations, his face now pressed to the side of hers.

Sakura writhed in his grasp. "Why are you doing this?" She finally questioned.

"I am just attempting to make you feel better, Sakura." He said simply.

"You're not making me feel any better. Plus, why would you want to help me anyway? You don't know me."

"True enough." He pitched in.

Sakura waited for him to say something else, but he didn't.

"I will hit, you know." She threatened.

"I thought you said that violence wasn't the answer."

She pouted childishly.

"It's how people deal with perverts."

"And how do you deal with boys who refused your declaration?"

She glared again.

"I wanna hit him again." She said earnestly.

"Well, then you should."

Sakura sighed, eyes once again drawn to the actions he was guiding her hands into. She almost forgot about that, and now as she eyed the piece of wood, she had to blink a couple of times to ascertain what she was seeing.

It was no longer a shapeless mass, instead, she found herself looking at a very realistic looking rose, it even had a small leaf attached to it and tiny little thorns to boot.

"Wow."

"Do you like it?" He questioned, his hands finally coming to rest.

"It's great." She said in awe.

The man behind her gave another secretive smile.

And before Sakura knew it, he was pressing a rather brief kiss to her cheek. "It's yours then, Sakura."

Her heart took off at an insane speed and before she could once again struggle to get free, she felt the man behind her disappear.

He literally just went 'poof' and Sakura landed on the floor.

Immediately she turned around and started looking for the man but he was nowhere to be seen.

She placed a hand on her heart to steady it and hung her head down, only to see the rose he made still grasped in her left hand.

As the first beams of sunlight forced their way through the tenacious clouds, Sakura raised the wooden rose to the heavens to ascertain that it did in fact exist and that she did not dream the whole thing up.

She smiled to herself and at length she whispered: "Who was that?"

* * *

**Annnnnd…. This is the second chapter… In the next one we're gonna take a brief time skip which will land us seven years into the future, so make sure you leave no unfinished business that could mess with your future self. And leave a time capsule or something.**

**I hope you guys liked this one…. Perverted man… I wonder who he was.**

**Please Review ;)**


	3. Of Blondes and Frustrations

Sakura woke up with a start, why on earth was she dreaming about such a mortifying moment in her life.

Shaking her head, she hopped off her bed and stalked towards the bathroom. With any luck, Ino would still be sleeping and she'd get first dibs on some soothing hot water. She sure needed to wash that memory away, or she'd track Sasuke down and punch him through a wall.

Not that she'd regret it that much; after all, she has long since learnt that a good punch in the face is just what the doctor prescribed to take her ex-teammate down a peg.

Too bad it took her years upon years of disappointments, pain and humiliation to finally learn that if she wanted someone to treat her right, she just needed to step up and demand it, rather than sit around in the shadows and hope for the occasional kind smile.

Sakura sighed as she reached the bathroom. That dream really reminded her of some painful memories. *I was so innocent,* she pondered, and to think that she had regretted flinging that log at him. Hell, if that had happened today, she probably would have flung Sasuke at the tree, not the other way around.

Smiling at the image of a tree bound Sasuke, Sakura flung the bathroom door open and gawked at the scene in front of her.

Not only did she miss her opportunity to get to the bathroom first, she also managed to absently wander in while said facility was in use.

Normally, this wouldn't have been such a big deal, since Ino had been her roommate for 3 years now, and over those years they've had their fair share of random walk ins.

However, as it stands, right now, Sakura felt an intense need to scream and cover her eyes, as she was greeted by the sight of a naked man lying face down on the bathroom floor.

Thank God for the 'face down' part.

Slowly, she padded towards him. She was a medic after all, and no matter how naked a guy is, she had duties she needed to fulfill.

Getting down on one knee Sakura quickly scanned the man, and much to her relief it turned out that he was passed out, and not by any chance dead or even injured.

Sighing, she got up and stalked to her friend's room, flinging the door open, Sakura watched gloatingly as the groggy Ino sat up in bed, completely startled. The blonde then proceeded to look this way and that like she expected an attack.

When nothing happened, she fixed Sakura with an angry glare.

"What has gotten into you, Forehead?" She questioned venomously.

"There's a naked man passed out in our bathroom." Sakura deadpanned.

Ino gave her a confused look, before her eyes focused and she leaned back in her bed, "So?"

Sakura huffed.

"Who's the naked man in our bathroom, Pig?" She growled.

"Who knows." Ino said shrugging.

"What do you mean, 'who knows?' Are you telling me that a man just happened to wander into our apartment, strip down to his birthday suit, and then randomly proceed to lie face-down on the bathroom floor?"

"The world is filled with possibilities, Forehead, who is to say that what you just said isn't what happened." The girl said, sliding back down in her bed, and closing her eyes in an attempt to drift back to sleep.

"It is also possible that you picked that guy up at a bar, didn't even bother to learn his name and then left him in the bathroom after you were done." Sakura accused, taking an enraged step towards her friend.

"Also a possibility." Ino allowed.

At that, Sakura jumped forwards on the bed, and before Ino could stir, her face was buried under a fluffy mass of white.

"MMMMMF... MMFFFFFFFF,,,, MFFFFFF."

"Stop fighting, I'll make this slow and painful." Sakura said manically above her head.

Beneath the pillow, Ino's eyes widened and she used her Chakra to push off and out of bed.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She said breathlessly.

"Well, I thought that I was smothering you with a pillow. Was that not clear?" She questioned sweetly, giving her friend a look that spoke of intense derangement.

Ino gulped, "Alright, alright Forehead, I'll remove what's his face from the bathroom. You don't have to get homicidal over it. Plus, you really should reconsider flashing that insane look of yours, makes you look even more masculine than you already do." Ino huffed, brushing a hand through her hair.

On that derogatory note, Ino was out of the door.

Sakura glared at her retreating form.

"And keep the drunken naked men in your room next time." She screamed after her.

"Not a problem." Ino said over her shoulder. "It's not like they'd want to wander into your room with me around." She added thrusting her nose in the air.

"I moved that pillow way too early." Sakura mumbled under her breath.

With that said, Sakura raced to the kitchen to scrounge up some breakfast, so as to start her day.  
Today, after all, was a very special day for her, and she wasn't about to let Ino, her nameless floor-mates, or even mortifying dreams about her childhood, ruin it for her.  
.

"Damn it." Sakura cursed under her breath. She channeled even more Chakra to her feet to try and reach her destination faster.

It was a shame that the Hokage had long since placed a rule restricting teleporting unless there is real danger.

The girl cursed her luck.

Ino had tried futilely to wake up the dozing stranger. Unfortunately though, he had too much alcohol in his system to allow it. So the two girls ended up lugging him all the way to the hospital. They weren't about to risk leaving the apartment and having him wake up alone to do God knows what in their absence.

Not only that, but once they returned, Sakura had the misfortune of having Ino beat her to the bathroom. This, of course led to an hour and a half of Sakura banging on the door, and Ino actively ignoring her. "I am creating perfection." The blonde had said. "Perfection can't be rushed." She added solemnly.

Sakura growled.

By the time the girl had built up enough rage to storm in, it was too late.

"Why did this have to happen today? Damn it!"

Sakura came to a stop in front of the giant gates embroidered with the Anbu crest, the gates were firmly locked and she knew that this was because she was three minutes late. Anbu had a no-tolerance policy. Their policy wasn't specific, it wasn't like they didn't tolerate certain actions such as people being late or killing each other, nope, they just didn't tolerate anything in general. Hence, the all-encompassing 'No-tolerance' motto; they had zero tolerance for _everything._

There goes all her hopes of making a good first impression.

Sakura shifted her weight from one foot to the other, as she contemplated her next move.

It was absolutely ridiculous to come this far only to be thwarted because of her roommate's irresponsible antics.

Especially because the event taking place right behind those walls would most definitely change her life. Her Shishou had been complaining about her work for years. She has been attempting to force her tasks on anyone stupid enough to accept them. But lately, even the most docile of her underlings were politely refusing to do her job for her. Some hid when she was walking around, others invented family emergencies and the vast majority graciously accepted the tasks, only to run to Shizune and inform her of the Hokage's antics. Needless to say, the delegated tasks would then quickly find their way back to Tsunade's desk.

This, of course, was forcing the buxom leader of Konoha to do much more work than she had bargained for. A direct result of that had been a declaration that she had made two weeks earlier. She had a habit of making a bet with Sakura and Shizuni at the beginning of every month. Tsunade would choose the terms of the bet and if she won, the two would do all her paperwork for a month, and if she lost, well, she'd have to do it. No delegation allowed.

Tsunade, however, lucky as she was, had lost that bet every month for the last seven years. The last straw came two weeks ago when she became desperate enough to go as far as to bet that Lee would wear his green jumpsuit every day of the coming week. Sakura would have thought that the Hokage's winning was a done deal. However, after years of watching the woman lose with the most favorable of odds, Sakura knew better.

Needless to say, a few days later, during a self-inflicted youthful challenge, Lee caught fire. The green spandex saved his life but at the cost of its own. Thus, Lee borrowed a coat from Neji to walk home in. It was in this condition that Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura ran into him. Tsunade of course almost killed the unsuspecting youthful spirit, who up until that day had no idea why he was so viciously attacked by the leader of his village.

After delivering Lee to the hospital, and ensuring that his life was in no immediate danger, Sakura and Shizune returned to their master only to hear her scream: "I quit!"

Naturally, they didn't buy it, for a while. However, they soon realized that she was actually speaking the truth. She had made up her mind, she had thought it through and she was adamant on it. And thus, the Hokage began her search for her replacement. And today, after two weeks of watching Tsunade work more than she has done in the last seven years, Sakura and some of the higher-ups of Konoha were invited to the Anbu headquarters to witness the introduction of the new Hokage.

If Naruto was here, he would have made a huge fuss about how he wanted the position. But as it stands, her ex-teammate had long since been on the road with Jiraiya-sama. The Toad sanin had been training him for years. And even after the training was finished, Naruto decided to stick around with Jiraiya and join him in his espionage missions. Quickly the sensei and his student became a duo and Naruto was granted the biggest honor of them all, that of partnering with a sanin. As a result, Sakura hadn't seen her blonde friend for years. But at least, his absence these days meant that he won't cause a scene.

For her part, Sakura had a very specific reason for being excited about this change. This is because with Tsunade no longer the Hokage, Shizune will step back too. And both of them will run Konoha's General hospital. Accordingly, the position of Hokage's assistant will be left wide open. And as Tsunade's remaining confidant, Sakura has been enlisted to assist the new Hokage through her/his first few weeks in office.

Sakura was so excited about this huge opportunity and was even more flattered at being trusted with such a position. Especially when she heard that the new Hokage- whose identity was withheld from her- also approved of the choice and did not wish to take Tsunade up on her halfhearted offer to leave Shizune behind for a while. After all, if Shizune was to be left behind who would she delegate her hospital duties to?

All in all, Sakura was happy and was more than eager to know who she would be working for. She was supposed to start working for the Hokage tomorrow. Furthermore, given that the identity of the new Hokage won't be revealed to the general public until she/he has become completely familiar with the work, this means that attending this little secret meeting was her only chance at getting to know who the Hokage is before she has to report for work tomorrow.

The very fact that she was invited to such a top level meeting was thrilling enough for her. She could just see herself standing in the huge Anbu hall alongside the elites.

But as it stands, all of her dreams seemed about to be sent crashing.

With fire in her eyes, Sakura banged on the gilded door of the Anbu headquarters.

Nope, that didn't work.

How about circling the place, maybe there's another entrance?

On that thought, she started walking around, hoping to find another door.

She could attempt to infiltrate the place by jumping the fence or something, but as this was the Anbu headquarters, the girl was almost a hundred percent sure that such an action will only end in strife.

Sakura wasn't the biggest fan of strife.

The girl was on her second round and about ready to punch a hole through the walls keeping her out, when she felt two people approaching her.

"Thank you soldier." A smoldering female voice echoed, and the buxom blonde to whom that voice belonged, swayed her hips enticingly as the man walking next to her opened a small door for her.

The woman wore the hell out of the standard Anbu outfit and threw the other Anbu a wink as he stepped rather distractedly into the facilities, leaving the door open for her to follow.

"Anything for you." Sakura heard the enthralled man mutter.

As they approached, Sakura got a better look at the woman. Eying her closely, Sakura was overwhelmed with confusion.

Her confusion didn't last long though and promptly metamorphosed into shock: "Naruto." She screamed and it sounded almost like a question.

The boy/bodacious woman turned his attention to Sakura, his eyes flashed in recognition and shock.

"Sakura-chan." He said in his real voice, looking equally shocked.

On hearing that, the Anbu officer's eyes lit with anger, and needless to say the two ex-teammates were unceremoniously and rather forcefully escorted away; Sakura's declarations that she was not with him and that she was in fact invited effectively fell on deaf ears.

"I am going to kill you!"

"Sakura-chan, stop, pleaaaase!"

* * *

**I hope you liked this one ;)**

**Please Review.**


	4. The Memory of You

By nightfall Naruto's cries for mercy had died out. And thanks to his body's almost supernatural ability to heal, he did not have to be hospitalized. Thus, alongside his assailant, the blonde Hokage-wanna-be retired to his favorite ramen place. He hadn't been here in years after all, and he would have spared no time coming here the second he arrived, if it weren't for his immense desire to crash the new Hokage's revelation gathering and declare that he is the rightful owner of that title.

But now that he and Sakura were effectively banned from the place, nothing was going to come between him and Ichiraku's.

He smiled through his first mouthful of ramen. His smile was that of sheer bliss, it showed just how much he missed his home and how very happy he was to be back. It also showed the huge amount of ramen that he had in his mouth.

"Chew and then smile." Sakura said, looking away. "For Kami's sakes Naruto have some manners." She added, resisting the urge to start hitting him again for ruining her chances of being one of the chosen few, privileged to attend the new Hokage's debut.

"Hai, Sakura-chan." Naruto replied, still grinning through his food.

His happiness, as always, was contagious and Sakura found herself trying futilely to hide her answering smile.

With the assurance that his companion was also enjoying herself, Naruto returned his attention to his plate and Sakura had no doubt that she wouldn't get to talk to him again until he has devoured more than his weight in Ramen.

Sakura smiled to herself as she watched him go. The sight brought about waves upon waves of nostalgia.

Seven years ago, watching Naruto wolf down Ramen was as natural a part of her day as breathing. And to think that she has not seen him in years.

Sakura stifled a sigh and allowed memories of her past to wash upon her. Her mind momentarily drifted to the dream she had that night about her disastrous confession to Sasuke. Cringing at the thought of ever liking him, Sakura's memory flashed back to the aftermath of that confession.

.

**Seven Years Ago:**

"Stop walking so fast." The blonde girl yelled. The girl was in the trees, jumping from branch to branch, obviously stalking the other girl who was trotting through the greenery fully determined not to give any attention to the screaming blonde. "I said stop…. Forehead, I know you can hear me." She declared as she jumped to another branch in an attempt to keep up with her advancing target. "I have dangooo." The girl said stretching out the word enticingly, as she waved about the aforementioned item. Her pink haired target however, was unmoved.

As a result the blonde plopped one of the treats in her mouth and exclaimed dramatically. "Oh, this is great." She said, and when the other didn't seem to care, she added, "No, it's not great. It's better than great. What's a word that's better than great?" She questioned seriously, obviously contemplating the matter. "Me." She declared. "The only thing that's better than great." She finished proudly, before checking herself.

Jumping to yet another tree, Ino's eyebrow's twitched with frustration. She sped up a bit and gained on her unwilling companion. And from her perch on the tree, she aimed one of the dango at the other girl.

A second later, the treat made contact with the target's cheek and Sakura almost instantaneously stopped, leveling a murderous glare at the blonde culprit.

Ino faltered. "I was aiming at your mouth, I swear." She asserted. "I just wanted you to taste them."

Sakura wiped her cheek, stuck her nose in the air in haughty indignation, and in an effort to further annoy Ino, continued on walking with every intention of ignoring her.

"Come on Forehead, you haven't talked to me in two weeks. I know I messed up with the Sasuke thing, but I said I was sorry like a million times…. You don't have to be so vindictive about it."

At that insult Sakura once again halted her progress. Yes, she has been giving Ino the silent treatment for two weeks; ever since the encounter with Sasuke. And yes she did not want to give her friend what she wanted by breaking her silence. But it was one thing to throw dango, it was a completely different thing to accuse her of being vindictive. She was wronged, not vindictive. *How dare she.* Sakura mentally rawr-ed, resolving on breaking her silence and putting the other teen in her place.

"I'm vindictive?" She uttered. "You tricked me into confessing to Sasuke." She accused. It felt good to finally confront her annoying friend.

"What?" Ino said indignantly, now jumping off of the tree branches and landing in front of Sakura. "I did no such thing."

"Riiiight." Sakura said disbelievingly. "You told me you were gonna confess to him. You knew that this would make me rush over to him and confess. You did this to me. And because of you, everyone is talking about how he rejected and humiliated me. I hear them whisper you know, and whenever I walk into a place they just stop."

Ino shook her head. "If they're talking about you, they're just speaking of how you flung a bloody log at him. I mean honestly, the people are getting scared. They are afraid of a second Tsunade-sama situation."

Sakura glared at the blonde.

"Listen, Forehead, think about it this way: why would I want you to confess to him first? I mean why set you up and actually risk him accepting you?" She paused thoughtfully. "I mean, granted no one in their right mind would actually accept you with such a monstrosity for a forehead and all. But still, do you think I'd actually take that risk?" The girl reasoned.

Sakura faltered a bit. "So, you meant it when you said that you were gonna confess? It wasn't a trick?"

"No it wasn't, I was just bragging. I didn't think you'd have the guts to go for it."

"Oh."

"See, Forehead, you've been mad at me for nothing all this time…"

"Right." Sakura said pensively, now completely deflated. A second later however, Sakura's eyes lit up with a new thought, "Wait a minute, if you haven't set me up, then why were you apologizing?" She accused.

"W-what are you talking about?" Ino muttered hesitantly. She almost got away with it.

"You. You have been chasing after me for the last two weeks declaring that you are very sorry. You never say sorry. You didn't even say sorry when you ran that advertisement in Konoha's daily newspaper and claimed that my Forehead is now available for rent as an ad-space. Then why have you been apologizing now? I took it to mean that you did in fact set me up. But if not then why?"

Ino sighed.

"Cause I'm a nice person?" She said with a fake cheery smile.

"Piiiig." Sakura deadpanned.

"Alright alright, I was apologizing because I might have done a bad thing. Not that I owe you and your huge forehead anything. It's just that, I too wanted to confess to Sasuke-kun at the festival. I would have gotten there before you too, except that I stopped by the house of mirrors at the festival to make sure that I looked absolutely perfect from every angle. I don't know what I was thinking. I always look gorgeous, that's a given. Anyway, by the time I arrived you were standing in front of him making an utter fool out of yourself. And I watched the whole thing. I even saw you sit there by the tree after he was gone. You looked so miserable. But, well… a part of me was actually glad that he rejected you. I felt certain that he'd accept me now that you were officially out of the picture. I know now that this was a horrible thing to feel. I mean, we've made our peace at the Chunin exams and we decided to be friends and all and I should not have felt happy because you were miserable. I also should not have gone after him instead of heading over to you and making sure that you were OK. But I did." Ino paused eyeing Sakura meaningfully.

"You confessed?" Sakura questioned, eyes widening.

At that Ino gave her the most heartbreaking look Sakura had ever seen. "Yah." She muttered.

"Oh."

"He just walked away; didn't acknowledge me with even a look."

"Ino…. I am so sorry…. I….."

"Don't be. I was a lousy friend to you, Forehead, and I deserved it."

Sakura gave her a weak smile.

"No one deserves that." She said earnestly. "Plus, we've long since declared that Sasuke-kun was fair play and that none of us was under any obligation to observe common courtesy when it came to getting him to fall for her."

"Well, we were idiots weren't we?" The blonde questioned with a sad smile.

Sakura returned her smile. "Yah."

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway, because from now on I have decided to never fall for another guy again. None of them deserves it. I'll become a player!" Ino declared.

Sakura valorously attempted not to laugh at that one.

"Right." She said with a smirk.

"I mean it Forehead, Guys suck and I will be a huge player and break their hearts before they could break other girls' hearts."

"Come on Pig, don't overreact; he's a jerk but I am sure there are other guys who are….."

"No. They are all jerks. They're not worth it. Plus, why are you giving me advice when you yourself are a mess because of all this."

"I am fine." Sakura asserted.

"I've been following you around for weeks Forehead. Do you think I don't know that you have been going to the festival grounds and sitting under that tree twice every day?"

Sakura blushed, "I…. I…."

"You're hopeless. And you're heading over there right now too." Ino declared.

"Pig, this is none of your business."

"Yah, whatever, you go ahead, I won't stop you. But I won't be that way, I will be strong and I'll be an even bigger jerk than that bastard. I can't believe we even liked him. The guy doesn't even like sweets for Kami's sakes. I mean, that alone should have tipped us off that he's a jerk."

Sakura sighed and nodded. She knew full well that Ino was putting on a brave face and insulting Sasuke only to make herself feel better. After all, the two of them had been infatuated with the Uchiha for years, and none of them would have expected him to treat her in such a manner. They have deluded themselves into thinking that he'd act differently towards them, and after two weeks of reflection, the pink haired girl concluded that she could only blame herself for what happened. She was proud of Ino, however, for putting on a brave face and attempting to move on. She doubted that the blonde will ever become a player-ette or someone who'd sleep with a new guy every day or anything, but if telling herself that helps her get over Sasuke and speak about him in such a way, well, then so be it.

"You're still going to the festival grounds aren't you?" Ino questioned.

Sakura nodded.

"Don't you wanna come to practice with me?"

"No, I'm good."

"Do you forgive me?"

"Yup." She said, grinning at the blonde.

Ino smiled. "I guess you have some redeeming qualities after all, Forehead." She complemented/insulted. "And I promise that the next time you're devastated because a guy refused you, I'll be right next to you telling you how much of a bastard he is. I'll even lie and say that you're way too good for him."

Sakura glared. "How do you know I'll get refused again?"

"Come on." Ino said meaningfully, following her words with a pause and shrug. "But I'll be nicer. I promise. Not nice, but nicer. And I won't let any guy come between us again. I promise that too." She added in hopes of getting Sakura to fully forgive her.

Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"Will you stop calling me Forehead?"

"Never."

With that said, Ino ran off to head to her training session.

Meanwhile, Sakura smiled to herself as she headed towards the festival grounds. It was a nice spring day and she was certain that the Sakura tree will have even more flowers than it had last night.

To tell the truth, Sakura wasn't really heading over there to dwell on Sasuke and what happened. Ino misunderstood that part. Which was to be expected since Sakura told no one of her interaction with the mysterious man the night of her encounter with Sasuke.

It was for the sake of said mysterious man that Sakura walked to the festival grounds every morning and every night.

Sakura, initially, refused to admit to herself that she wished to see him again. He was a pervert, one that should be avoided at all costs. She was just heading over there because she enjoyed the place. That was all. It was a place to relax.

However, as the days went by, it became harder and harder for her to deny the fact that she wanted to see the dark haired perve once again.

She assured herself though, that she did not like the man.

How could she like him anyway? She met him only once and he acted like a total creep.

Who in their right mind would like someone like that?

Not to mention that after hearing what Ino had to say, she got to thinking that it won't be a good idea to develop yet another hopeless crush. And this time it would be worse too, because she didn't even know the man.

And there was also the fact that this man was most probably an acquaintance of Sasuke's. Nope, that won't be wise.

Sakura sighed, and despite her anti-falling-in-love-with-the-stranger train of thought, she couldn't help the excited murmur that her heart gave once she approached the location of the tree. She also couldn't help the way that her heart sank when she realized that once again, he was not there.

Suddenly, the girl felt disappointed and weary, and slowly she sank down and sat by the tree trunk like she's been doing every day.

*I have to see him again.* For some reason Sakura found it painful to imagine that she could go through life never meeting that man again and slowly have him become nothing but a memory.

But for what it was worth, she was glad that she did meet him. It was because of that little encounter that she no longer felt the sting of what happened with Sasuke. Hell, she could have sworn that she had gotten over the young Uchiha completely and now couldn't care less whether he liked her or not, something that she could have never thought possible.

She was thankful to the stranger, she really was. He was after all, the perfect distraction.

**End of Flashback.**

**.**

"Sakuraaaa-chaaaaan!" Naruto screamed.

"What…. What's wrong with you Naruto? Why are you screaming?"

"I've been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was just thinking." She justified. "Are you done eating?" She questioned confusedly.

Naruto looked deflated.

"Yah… They ran out of Ramen." He admitted.

"Yup, you tend to have that effect." She agreed, eyeing the now empty ramen stand, and the owner who was now counting his money and probably contemplating how fast he'd be getting that swimming pool that he's always wanted now that Naruto was back in town.

"So, Sakura-chan, wanna go find another Ramen stand?"

Sakura grinned.

She really did miss that idiot.

"Yah, why not."

* * *

**I hope things are starting to make some sense by now.**

**I know the chapters are kinda short, but the next one will be decidedly longer.**

**Not only that, but it will feature the first present day meeting between our dear Saku-chan and the mysterious man.  
**

**I'm curious to know what you guys think of this story so far…**

**Review and I shall write faster ;)**


	5. Why God Why!

Naruto stretched out his arms happily almost purring with satisfaction at having devoured almost three times his weight in food.

Alongside his pink haired ex-teammate, the blonde was now sitting by the lake and watching the sun set.

"Did you like the chocolate cake?" Sakura questioned. She knew the answer of course, but she just wanted to see the happy grin that now adorned Naruto's face. Nobody grins like Naruto and Sakura smiled in return as the happy blonde twitted out his answer.

"Hai, Hai." He sang. "I loved it." He added. "You should have had some Sakura-chan."

"I would have, if you hadn't devoured the entire thing almost before I had sat down." She deadpanned.

"You snooze you lose." He offered. This was, after all, his cardinal rule when it came to food. That alongside: 'finders eaters, losers starvers, because anyone foolish enough to lose his food deserves to starve.'

Sakura sighed.

"You haven't changed a bit." She accused.

He smiled. "Neither have _you_ Sakura-chan."

Sakura gave him a look that communicated that she wasn't really sure this was a compliment.

"I am really glad of it." Naruto added.

The girl smiled. "I would like to think that I have made some changes, though." She said solemnly.

"You can change all the little things you want to, you will always be our Sakura-chan." The blonde replied with a genuine smile. Sakura knew that by 'our' he meant team seven's. But after all these years, Sakura found that hearing these words didn't afford her a fraction of the happiness that it would have offered her younger self.

With an effort to change the subject, Sakura spoke next, "So, how long has it been since we last met. Let me think, a year….. No, two."

Naruto's smile faded a bit, "Yah, I think it's two years. I wanted to come back sooner Sakura-chan. I wanted to see you and Sasuke and spend some time with you. But Ero-senin and I got assigned on an espionage mission and we had to remain undercover for a very long time to gather information."

Sakura gave him a look that communicated her pride at hearing him talk so seriously. Who knew that the blonde that was all over the place would grow into such a dedicated young man. "I am just glad you're back, safe and sound."

At that, Naruto's grin returned in full force, however, a second later, a thought flashed across his face, and he fell into a few seconds of contemplation before stating.

"Ano, Sakura-chan, why were you going to _that _Hokage's party in the first place?" He questioned.

Sakura swallowed her sigh, she saw that question coming.

"You mean the party that you got me banned from because of that silly Jutsu of yours." She said with a raised eyebrow. "Well, I was invited."

"Why?" He questioned once more. "Why would you support that new Hokage? I should be the new Hokage." Naruto added with the same determination that accompanied those words when he was a child.

"Naruto, I know you want to be the Hokage, and I am sure that one day you will be. But right now, there is a new Hokage, and I happen to be his assistant; a position that I have worked so hard to get, and today was going to be my chance to be amongst the chosen few who'd get first dibs on meeting the new Hokage. That is of course until you….."

Sakura's rant came to a halt when Naruto's eyes blazed, and he suddenly got to his feet.

"Sakura-chan….. HOW COULD YOU." He roared.

Sakura blinked. She saw this one coming as well.

"This is a betrayal!" He shouted, pointing an accusing finger at her face.

Sakura slowly got to her feet.

"Naruto, I am only doing my duty." She explained.

"How could you?" He said, squinting his eyes and pursing his lips.

"Oh Kami-sama."

Naruto scowled.

"You know what, Sakura-chan, I am going to go find that new Hokage, and I am gonna challenge him to a battle and then I am going to beat him and then I am going to become the Hokage and then you will be _my _assistant, and then Sasuke-teme will be my consultant and then the three of us will be a team again."

With that said, Naruto gave her another determined look, before rushing away in search of the Hokage.

*That'll end well.* Was Sakura's sarcastic train of thought.

Smiling fondly at her friend's unchanged antics and almost wistfully at his undying desire to reunite their old team, Sakura started walking home.

She had work tomorrow. And after ruining her chances of an early meeting with the new Hokage, she was determined to make a good first impression tomorrow.

Thus, she'd go home, avoid Ino, eat, and call it a very early night.

.

The next morning Sakura woke up with a start. The kind of start that you get when your previously sleeping mind decides to go from zero to a hundred in a flash, suddenly kicking into gear and flinging a few thoughts in your face all at the same time.

The thoughts that her mind flung at her all had some very interesting key words in common:

'Hokage'

'Today'

'Assistant'

'Finally'

'Must not be late'

And of course: 'Must make it to the bathroom before Ino wakes up and gets started on her usual two hour quest for beauty.'

With that thought in mind, Sakura threw a concerned look at the clock, and was flooded with relief at finding it only 6 in the morning.

The girl had been so excited she actually woke up before her alarm had a chance to annoy her into wakefulness.

Smiling thankfully at not having afforded the annoying watch-wannabe the chance to nag at her, she hopped off her bed. Man, she really hated alarm clocks. It was Sakura's ardent belief that alarms were tools used by the devil to drive humans past the point of sanity. Hell, whenever she pictured evil she always saw a legion of red horned devils equipped with annoying alarm clocks…. And Sasuke.

With that mental image she padded her way towards the bathroom, adamant on getting a nice refreshing shower in preparation for her introduction to the Hokage.

Before flinging the bathroom door open, the girl took a silent second to hope that Ino has not once again left one of her naked men plastered on the bathroom floor. One incident was enough, thank you very much.

On that thought, Sakura carefully coaxed the door open.

For a second there the girl was completely relieved. For lo and behold there were no naked men on the bathroom floor.

However, her treacherous ears soon picked up on a sound, and her careless eyes followed the sound to the shower. Sakura's eyes widened, before bringing both hands to stifle the instinctive squeak she was about to emit.

"Oh, morning, Forehead." Ino said, completely unfazed and barely untangling herself from the naked man she was currently canoodling with under the running water of the shower. "You could knock you know." She added, in a not particularly interested tone before returning to her previous ministrations; her and her equally naked companion now completely ignoring the girl's presence as if it was no big deal to have someone witness them performing such acts.

For her part, Sakura turned bright red, and was literally shaking with both embarrassment and outrage.

She willed her stupefied limbs to move, however she ended up missing the door and walking straight into the wall behind her in her rush to disappear.

Sakura fell backwards with a dull thud. And unfortunately for the poor pink haired medic she ended up on her back looking up at the bathing duo.

Looking down at the mortified girl, Ino muttered, "How rude," once again untangling herself from the nameless guy.

"She could join us if you want." The nameless naked man offered, turning his head to look at Sakura, and with the motion Sakura was treated to a look at something that she had been doing her best to avoid seeing up until this moment.

"How about that Forehead, wanna form a tag-team?" Ino said suggestively.

"Hell no!" Sakura screamed, turning bright red and almost flying off the floor and out of the bathroom. "I hate you, Pig." She yelled as she ran off. "I will kill you, you hear me! I am going to murder you!" She roared.

The following ten seconds saw Sakura frantically scrambling about for her clothes, before heading for the door and running like she was being chased by Orochimaru himself.

*Damn Ino.* She thought as she attempted to rid her mind of the visual images of naked Ino and her naked friend.

It's not like this was the first time Sakura walked in on a scene like that. After all, she had been living with the promiscuous blonde for years now. But it really was a flustering scene to witness first thing in the morning. Especially when it was the morning of her big day.

With that in mind, Sakura scrambled up the stairs of the Hokage tower.

Greeting the guards perfunctorily, she stepped into the personal-quarters that up until recently were utilized by Tsunade.

Sakura couldn't even start to enumerate the times when she had to spend days upon days at this place, slaving away at some task or another, while Tsunade snoozed her way through the whole thing.

Sakura huffed before smiling fondly at the thought of her sensei.

For the last few days she had been trying her best to focus on the positives, but she really couldn't deny that she would miss working closely with her Shishou. Granted Tsunade will run the hospital and Sakura will still get to see her on regular basis. However, the girl couldn't help but feel like this was the end of an era.

Forcing her thoughts to take a more positive direction, Sakura walked into Tsunade's previous room. Currently unoccupied and awaiting its next owner, this room was the perfect place for Sakura to chill out, take a shower, and make herself presentable for her meeting with her new boss.

Smiling to herself, the girl threw the bag that contained her formal-wear on the bed, and stretched her arms out delightedly. Yup, she gets to have a full hour and a half to prep herself both mentally and physically for the meeting.

*First impressions do count after all.*She reflected as she headed for the bathroom, undressed and sighed in relief as the warm water hit her face.

Yes this is the life, a life without naked Ino and her naked buddies prancing around and completely unaffected by their own nakedness.

At that thought Sakura scowled, *Damn Ino.*

But she needn't think on that now, given that she had this shower, this bathroom and the entire room all to herself for the next 90 minutes.

She'd often used this shower after pulling grueling all-nighters.

She did have Tsunade's permission of course.

*Maybe I shouldn't be using this place now that Shishou is not its owner anymore.* A cautious voice in her mind reflected.

*Well, technically the new Hokage has not been sworn in yet, so this place has no owner.* A more rambunctious voice replied, and Sakura leaned back in the shower in sheer bliss.

Sakura relaxed her body in an attempt to convince her mind to follow suit. Her mind however was rather high-strung. *Such a big day for me.* She pondered. *What if the new Hokage doesn't like me. If so then I might not get to stay as the Hokage's assistant. I was told that I would only get to be an assistant in the transitory period in order to familiarize the new Hokage with the procedures. So I really do need to make a good first impression and then show the Hokage that I am really good at this. This is my big chance. I need to be able to prove myself. I worked so hard to get this far. However, my efforts haven't really been acknowledged what with being the Hokage's apprentice and all, everyone thought that I became her assistant just because she liked me. But this is not true. I worked really hard to get here. But if the new Hokage doesn't keep me on board then that will validate what some people might already be thinking. They'll really be justified in feeling that I am not really that good and that I got this far only because I am Shishou's apprentice.*

*Damn it.* Sakura hissed, directing her anger at her treacherous mind for coming up with such a train of thought.

And there she was attempting to relax.

But relaxing has never really been much of an option for her. After all, she has always been attempting to prove herself. And in her mind, she will always remember the day when she decided to step up to the plate and become her own person. It was following an event that took place not a very long time after her encounter with the nameless stranger.

As the warm water flowed, the steam rose and surrounded the girl engulfing her in the soothing scents of her bath soaps, and slowly her mind drifted back to that time.

.

**Seven Years Ago:**

"She's not here." A Nurse at Konoha's general hospital informed the 13 year old Sakura.

"Then where is she?" The child responded, her small face contorting with concern.

The nurse almost smiled at the childish expression. This little girl just started working at the hospital as a trainee; she was really good at it too, which made it really easy to forget that she was but a child.

"She's at her office. Hokage duties, I guess." The nurse supplied.

"Oh." Sakura said, sounding dejected.

"You can go see her there if you want. I mean if you have something serious to tell her."

"Oh." Sakura repeated again, and her eyes came alive with visible confusion.

"If you're worried about the rest of the shift it's Ok. It's just job shadowing and you've seen me do almost everything. The next portion of my afternoon will be nothing but filling out forms. So you can go ahead now. It's fine."

"Will that be alright?" Sakura questioned sounding unsure.

"It'll be fine. Go ahead."

On that note Sakura gave a courteous bow before heading off. The truth is, Sakura was rather hesitant. It wasn't that she wanted to finish the shift; it was just that she was too scared to go through with what she had in mind. She had spent the entire day gathering up her courage to go up and talk to the Hokage. But it seemed that she'd taken way too long with the courage gathering thing and ended up missing the woman. And now she had to meet her in her office at the Hokage tower, which no matter how she looked at it was much _much_ harder than seeing her at the hospital.

*I can do this.* She chanted in her head. *I have to.* She added determinately.

And she did, Sakura truly had to go and talk to the Hokage.

It had been almost four months since the day she met the perverted stranger. Every day since then she'd walk up to the tree where she met him in hopes of seeing him, and everyday she'd get slightly more disappointed.

She was mad at him. But rationality informed her that she had no right to be, she didn't even know the guy.

*Yah, but who meddles with someone's life like that and then vanishes? He's a horrible horrible person. I don't ever wanna see him.*

But she did. She wanted to see him and even she had to admit that to herself.

Especially at a time like this. She just felt like seeing that stranger who helped her bury her demons and completely get over her humiliation at the Sasuke thing, is sure to give her the courage needed to go through with what she was about to do.

But, the annoyance at not getting to see him over the last few months was blunted by the fact that Sakura had bigger fish to fry. That is: worse things to worry about.

You see, two weeks after confessing to Sasuke, Sakura had to report to a training session with her entire team.

Needless to say, the girl spent the entire time worried about how she was gonna face him.

And when she finally arrived to the training grounds she was even more flustered by the fact that Naruto wasn't there.

She asked Kakashi where the blonde was, eager to have his boisterousness as a buffer between her and Sasuke, and was promptly informed that said blonde will not be showing up for training that day. Actually, she was informed that for a few months to come, Naruto will not be part of their training sessions.

Naturally, Sakura asked why, and Kakashi responded by telling her that Naruto will undergo training with Jiraiya-sama.

The girl had met the perverted man before the Chunin exams, and she knew that he had trained Naruto in preparation for the exam.

And now she realized that Jiraiya had actually been Minato-sama's sensei and he was interested in helping with Naruto's training as well, which Kakashi apparently had no objections to.

He specifically said, "Jiraiya-sama will be best able to help Naruto develop, since he is adept at dealing with powers like Naruto's."

However, Sakura had a sneaking suspicion that Jiraiya just annoyed Kakashi into accepting his offer at tutoring Naruto, and that her somewhat lazy sensei decided that it would be too much of a hassle fighting him on it. Plus, who wouldn't want a few months off from attempting to tame the rowdy blonde.

All in all, Sakura wasn't only gonna be alone with Sasuke that day, she would probably end up training alone with him every day for a while.

After taking a moment to curse her luck, Sakura indicated her readiness to start training.

And as she expected, Sasuke completely ignored her; as if nothing had happened.

And for once, Sakura was happy that he was a stoic bastard. God only knows what would have happened to her if he had broached the subject of her confession or the fact that she had flung a log at him. Just the memory of that log still brought a smile to her face.

But as it stood, that day Sakura had very little to smile about. For she had to spend the entire training session watching Kakashi tutor Sasuke on techniques related to the sharingan and to his Chidori.

All while Sakura had to focus on getting better at the basics.

Which, simply put, meant that she had to punch trees, run around, and lift heavy stuff; all because Kakashi stated that she needed to work on her endurance in order to get better at Taijutsu.

For the next two months their trainings were exactly the same. Sasuke would get tutored, while she would sink into the background after being given her task for the day.

At times she would push herself very far in an attempt to get Kakashi's attention. She just wanted him to give her some praise, or even some criticism; anything to show that he actually cared, really.

One time she actually gathered up her Chakra and uprooted a tree, she even surprised herself with that one. Her eyes involuntarily travelled over to him to see if he was watching. And much to her surprise her sensei was in fact watching, not only that but she could see the corners of his mask twitch and she knew that he was about to praise her. However, almost instantaneously, a bolt of lightning summoned by Sasuke, brought down a bunch of trees, and Kakashi's attention was quickly hijacked. He then proceeded to give Sasuke pointers on how to be more precise. His back completely turned to Sakura, who was kneeling down and panting, her head bowed down in a desperate attempt to hide her tears. A few minutes passed however, and Sakura realized that there was no need for her to bow her head, or attempt to hide her tears, for she was completely invisible to her two companions.

She remained invisible for weeks after that. Eventually she started working at the hospital because Ino told her that that would be a way for her to better her Chakra control.

And after a week of working there, Sakura sought Kakashi's permission to no longer come to training and instead work on the basics by herself. She told him that she will be busy because of her duties at the hospital and the morning trainings won't suit her schedule which is why she preferred to work on her own in the afternoons. This was a lie, she could easily ask her supervisors to let her come late. But she didn't want to; she didn't want to go to training sessions where she was invisible anymore. She wanted to be seen, she wanted to have things be the same way as they were before the Chunin exams. She wanted Kakashi to notice her, she wanted Naruto to be back, she wanted them to be a team like they used to be. And most importantly, she wanted Kakashi to refuse to let her go and insist on her coming to the training sessions.

In response to her statement, Kakashi rubbed his neck thoughtfully for a second before saying, "I suppose there could be no harm in that. However, you must make sure that you do your tasks every day. If you do, Sakura-san, then I suppose it would be fine for you to not come to training until Naruto comes back and all three of you could train together again."

Sakura smiled and thanked him, but on the inside something was breaking.

*He doesn't care.*

And with that she left.

For the next month Sakura trained alone and saw neither her sensei nor her teammates.

She was just glad that her work at the hospital now kept her mind busy and prevented her from having too many thoughts.

But when she was alone, she couldn't help sinking into despair. She felt as if she were useless and unimportant. It wasn't just Sasuke who ignored her and treated her badly, it was also her sensei. Kakashi didn't care if she was there or not. It was as if he found it pointless to invest time or effort in her. Her presence just meant nothing.

However, Ino who was watching closely and was well aware of what was going on even though Sakura said nothing about it, eventually decided to step in.

She advised Sakura to go and ask the Hokage to tutor her.

"That'll show them." Ino had declared.

In the beginning Sakura dismissed that idea as utterly absurd. Her asking the Hokage for something like that. This was ridiculous. She'd never do that. And even if she did she'd simply be refused.

In time Sakura realized that her opinion of herself was no different from Kakashi's. She felt as if she was just average, mediocre. She excelled in written tests, but that was because she was good at memorizing stuff. This didn't reflect intelligence though, despite the fact that she always strived to seem smart. But she knew better, she wasn't smart, she wasn't anything. She was just a filler on a team comprised of two promising Shinobi and a genius sensei.

But that line of thought that occupied her mind for weeks was making her weary. She could admit that she was in fact mediocre. But she wished for more. She wanted more, and she was willing to work as hard as it took to be more.

And with that in mind, she talked herself into addressing the Hokage.

*So what if she refuses to mentor me, at least I would have tried.* She told herself as she walked up the stairs of the Hokage tower for the first time.

*No… No…. I can't.* A voice in her head intervened as she stepped into Shizune's office. The office was empty and Sakura found herself facing the door to the Hokage's adjoining office.

*Yes, I can… I should at least try….*

*Stupid….. She'll refuse. Why would she agree to tutor someone like me? What value do I have? It will be a waste of her time. She's the Hokage. Asking her to waste some of her time on me would be outrageous. I can't.*

*But if she agrees I can have a tutor of my own. I could actually get better. And she's always been good to me at the hospital, always smiling and teaching me things. I will just ask her for a few hours of her time every week to teach me how to fight. That is all.*

*She'll refuse.*

*So what if she does. I mean, it will be bad but at least I could say that I tried. This won't be too bad.* And with that Sakura's hand shot out in order to knock on the door.

*Idiot, yes it will. If she refuses then I will know that I am truly useless and have no merit.*

This stopped the hand dead in its track a second before she knocked; said hand came to rest on the doorknob as the girl froze.

Yes, if rejected it will be tantamount to being told that she was nothing. It would validate all the bad feelings that she has been having about herself ever since the Chunin exams. And she didn't want that. She really didn't want that. Maybe she should head back. Maybe it would be better to forget about this whole thing. Maybe she should be content of being the third wheel on a team of two. It could be that this was all she was meant to be.

*No…. It can't be that way. I don't want to!* She mentally screamed, her hand, automatically flinging the door open, as she ran in on impulse as if attempting to escape her thoughts, "No!" She screamed without thinking.

It took a second for Sakura to realize what she did. The next second saw the girl blinking in utter shock, and in the third second, panic set in, as realization hit her.

*I have just barged into the Hokage's office. Without even knocking!*

Not only that, but the Hokage wasn't alone. Two masked Anbu stood facing her giant desk, apparently in the middle of giving their report on a mission. But now, however, all action in the room was suspended as everyone's attention was on the girl who just dashed into the Hokage's office, literally screaming.

Sakura froze, eyes widening to a degree that no one in the room would have imagined was humanly possible.

Sakura watched as the Hokage wiped the startled look off of her face, and cleared her throat.

"Is there an emergency, Sakura?" The woman questioned.

Sakura was indeed mortified, however, something in her mind, somehow, still worked, and she managed to shake her head indicating that this was not some emergency that had to do with national security or anything of the like.

Tsunade's eyebrows rose.

"Not an emergency." She concluded.

Sakura shook her head again.

When Tsunade realized that the girl was in some state of shock and wasn't about to volunteer any words on her own, her eyes shimmered with dark amusement.

"So is it work related?"

Sakura shook her head again.

"Is it personal?"

Sakura nodded. It was after all, a favor that she wanted to ask.

Tsunade gave her a dangerous look. The woman was all for joking around, but barging in on a meeting was not something that she was disposed to take lightly.

At that Sakura's fear finally outweighed her mortification and she bowed deeply.

"I am so sorry! I wasn't even thinking. I didn't mean to barge in like this. I swear… I swear I…"

"Sakura, you just interrupted a meeting, in a manner quite disrespectful, and with no good reason. I really don't want to hear it, please wait in Shizune's office until I'm finished here. I'll get around to punishing you after I am done with this meeting." The Hokage said with a rare serious look.

Sakura gulped.

Damn it, this was it, she gave the woman a horrible impression of her and now she wasn't just gonna refuse her but she will also punish her and probably brand her as a good for nothing idiot for the rest of her life.

Panic, sheer panic rose and Sakura officially lost all control over her thoughts and actions.

"Please train me Tsunade-sama!" She shouted, once again stunning everyone in the room.

"Wha….."

"Please…. Please…. Please train me. I know that I have done something horrible, but it's only because I was too scared. I won't do it again I swear. But this is important. Very important to me and this is why I was terrified of asking you. I know I don't look like I have much potential, but I will work hard. I swear, I will work harder than anyone; I am willing to do anything. To spend every hour working. I Will do anything, I swear. But please help me. I don't want to be the way I am now. I don't want anyone to make me feel like I am useless, I know I am weak, but I want to be stronger. I want to make my own life, make my own destiny. So please train me so I can be better. I want to be better. Please, help me!"

Silence greeted Sakura's tearful and utterly sincere rant.

"I will train you." Tsunade said once the shock wore off.

Sakura's eyes lightened and her face stretched into the most brilliant smile anyone has ever seen.

"Now get out." The Hokage ordered.

"Hai." The girl twitted happily.

Sakura started training with Tsunade soon after that. To her, this will always be a mortifying memory. But she would never want to change anything about her actions that day. Because it was the first time that she completely threw caution to the wind and acted like she truly wanted to, without being restrained by shyness or fear.

And the next day, when she woke up and was about to leave for the hospital, Sakura was greeted with what she at the time viewed as the best thing that ever happened to her in her entire life. For in front of her was a small box wrapped like a present.

Quickly and rather excitedly the girl took the box into the apartment and scanned it for chakra traces.

When she deemed it safe, she opened it to find a huge black jewelry box.

Sakura's bewilderment escalated.

She knew no one who'd give her a gift, let alone jewelry.

With that in mind, she cautiously coxed the thing open, and froze in shock.

In her arms she held the most beautiful knife she has ever seen. It was a whittling knife like the one the stranger had that day. But it was much more beautiful; this one had a handle made of what appeared to be silver, with many little Sakura petal shaped pink diamonds encrusted into it.

It was so beautiful that Sakura was half convinced that she was dreaming. She looked at it for the longest time not even daring to touch it.

However, a small piece of paper sticking from under the box caught her eye, and Sakura finally snapped out of her trance.

She unfolded the paper and the contents stole her breath away.

'_Congratulations on becoming the Hokage's apprentice. Use this knife to carve your own destiny. And never allow anyone to tell you who you are.'_

With that, Sakura sunk to the ground with a dull thud, the box, the knife, and the letter firmly held in her arms, as she grinned with absolute glee.

**End of Flashback.**

.

"Damn it!"

Sakura hissed, as she turned the faucet off and stepped out of the shower.

She has drifted off once again and started thinking about irrelevant things.

This has been happening to her a lot recently. *It must be that Shishou is leaving.*

Yup, this must be the reason why she's getting all emotional and thinking about the past.

And there she is, daydreaming for God knows how long when she had to get ready for her meeting with the new boss.

With that in mind Sakura wrapped herself in a towel and stepped out into the adjoining room.

She'd get dressed, make herself presentable, and hope for a good first impression, *This is the plan.* She chanted in her head as she made towards the bed where she had left the bag that contained her things.

However, the second she reached the bed she heard noises from the hallway.

Quickly she looked at the clock and realized that she had been in the bathroom for almost half an hour.

It was still early though, the new Hokage and Tsunade shouldn't be here for another hour.

*It must be the cleaning staff.* She concluded. *They're probably here to check on the cleanliness of the room. It's Ok if they see me.* She pondered, relief flooding her, as she took her bag up and started searching for her clothes. The cleaning staff, after all, were like family to her what with the amount of time she normally spends around here.

"This way Hokage-sama." Sakura heard a small voice, which she immediately recognized as Shizune's.

*Damn it.* She thought, jumping in utter panic, before closing her bag, flinging it on her shoulder, and looking around her for a hiding place.

Sakura was vaguely aware of how comical she looked, as she twisted her head around in sheer fright, buck-naked except for a towel, and utterly confused.

But the girl had no time to laugh at herself, she needed to act, and fast.

She couldn't hide under the bed, because she would be seen, same goes for the bathroom. So this only left…..*Curtains!* She concluded diving behind the thick dark curtains that Tsunade insisted on installing to ward off the sun on hangover days.

Sakura, dejectedly thanked her lucky stars for her mentor's drunken habits. She was now hidden from view. *That is of course unless they decide to fling open the curtains to look at the view.* A snide voice in her head pointed out.

*Shut up.* She hissed at herself praying that this won't happen and attempting to steer her thoughts in a positive direction as the door was flung open and footsteps echoed through the room.

*Yup, the first time I meet the Hokage, I will be wrapped in a towel.* She surmised.

*Good work on that first impression thing by the way.* The evil voice commented sarcastically.

"This is the Hokage's personal bedroom. It could come in handy on days when there is way too much work that you do not have time to go home and rest." Shizune offered.

"Or when you are way too drunk and have a lady-friend over." That was Tsunade's voice, and Sakura could just hear the wink that she leveled at the new Hokage.

"Tsunade-sama." Shizune hissed threateningly, as Sakura rolled her eyes from behind the curtains.

"What? Don't scare him with talk about all-nighters. It almost never happens." The fifth Hokage intoned.

"It happens all the time." Shizune said in an exasperated manner.

"Really?" The ex-Hokage questioned, and Sakura was certain that she was genuinely surprised.

"Yes." Shizune stated, "It's just that you never stayed for them and you stuck us with the work."

"Oh." The woman said. And Sakura could tell that the two were now facing each other and bickering like they normally did, while the third person in the room, Sakura's future boss, was wandering around the huge room apparently examining it. The girl silently prayed for a miracle. "Well, then there you have it." Tsunade piped up. "If you stick someone with the work then you won't have any need to pull all-nighters yourself."

"I am sure he won't do that, Tsunade-sama." Shizune said emphatically, leaving out the 'he's not you' part.

"Why not. Why am I giving him Sakura for then? She could totally pull it off. You just need to get her started on a small task and then you just leave all your work with her, She'd end up doing the whole thing. She's one of those people who have to finish stuff or they won't be able to sleep." The ex-Hokage supplied, and without looking Sakura saw the accompanying evil grin on her face.

The girl silently swore to get the woman back for that one.

"Tsunade-sama…" Shizune started warningly.

However, whatever remark she had in store would have to go unheard as the new Hokage chose that moment to finally speak.

"I am sure Haruno-san is quite capable." Were the easily uttered words.

However, Sakura's heart almost beat itself out of her chest.

For one, the owner of the voice was way too close to where she was, that she was almost certain that if it weren't for the curtain she would be standing a mere inch away from him. Not to mention that she had no idea that he was there until he spoke.

However, none of that really mattered. The real issue here, the thing that shocked the girl past all reason, was the fact that this voice was way too familiar. It was a voice that she had spent a long time longing to hear and it was the only voice she didn't want to hear.

"Well, Itachi-sama, what do you think of your new room?"

*Oh Kami-sama…. Why him? Why me? Why now? Why the Hokage? Why am I naked? WHY!*

* * *

**Well…. Well…. Well :D**

**I really wanted to write more, but I have to go update my other story.**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Our beloved perve is finally here, and Sakura is in a very tough spot.**

**I really wish to know what you guys think.**

**Actually, I need some feedback here. I have two alternatives running around in my head. The first is to end this story on the next chapter. Make it short and sweet. And the second is to keep going. If I do, it will get longer because we will get into details, and into other characters and plotlines. So which would you prefer? Short funny and sweet or would you like to read more?**

**So please let me know :D **

**And finally, if you're reading "Unholy Matrimony" please forgive me for not updating for so long. I am working on it. I promise…**

**Please let me know what you think of this one.**


	6. Memoirs of a Towel Girl

It wasn't a particularly special day for most of Konoha. Not a remarkable day, not an eagerly anticipated day, not a long overdue day, and not an impatiently awaited day. In a nut shell, it was just a regular day, with a regular start and a regular morning. The Early-risers and those forever-annoying morning people were chirping by, being all happy and twitter-ish, even though it was still seven in the morning. As for the normal folk, they displayed an adequate degree of grumpiness as they growled for coffee and complete silence, while promising a swift end to anyone who dared deny them any of those.

All in all, people were still warming up for the day ahead.

However, one particularly unfortunate girl had managed to completely skip the warm up and fling herself straight into hell.

Absently the girl asked herself where she had gone wrong.

It was still too early, way too early in the day to mess up so completely and land herself in such a situation.

This was just wrong.

_Initiate freak out sequence:_

*This is not happening. It is not happening. He is not the Hokage. He is not standing behind the curtain. He is not my boss!*

Thoughtful pause.

*Oh Good God, he is the Hokage, he is standing behind the curtain and he is my boss.*

Another pause.

*And these aren't my only problems. He probably knows I am here. I mean why else did he come this close to the curtain. Oh I am such an idiot. What the hell was I thinking attempting to hide? He probably realized I was here the second he stepped in. Nooo! They probably all know. I am gonna be humiliated. They are gonna call me out and I am going to stand in front of all of them naked. There is no way out. From this day forwards I am gonna be known as 'Towel Girl.' First 'Forehead' and now 'Towel Girl'. What is wrong with me! My career is over… My life is over! This not fair… Not fair. Not FAIR!*

The girl took yet another thoughtful pause, where she mentally crawled into a small ball and started wailing loudly, praying to suddenly discover that her ancestors were witches and that she actually has the ability to disappear.

When her prayers appeared to go un-answered she proceeded to unfurl herself and rethink her approach to the whole situation. Now that magic isn't an alternative, this leaves her with only one option: get over it.

*Alright, there is no need to freak out. This won't lead me anywhere. My best bet now is to attempt to be positive and hope for the best.*

_Initiate ridiculously positive attempt at self-delusion:_

*None of them probably has any idea that I am here. I am normally very good at hiding my presence. Not to mention that my chakra traces are already all over the place from staying here too much. So even if any of them noticed my presence they will probably chalk it up to chakra residues. Plus, if he knows that I am here he would have exposed me already. He was probably standing close only to examine the curtains. They are pretty unusual dark curtains. Anyone would take a moment to contemplate them. Yup, that's it. He was just looking at the curtains. He might even be a curtain enthusiast. Yup, that's what it is…. Well maybe that's not exactly what it is. But he's not even close by anymore; he's at the other end of the room now. He probably has absolutely no idea. It will all be fine….. All … Will … be fine.*

She inhaled deeply, and was lulled into tranquility by the fact that Tsunade and Shizune had just casually struck up a conversation with Itachi about the need for more trained Anbu and his plans for improving the performance of the training centers.

*Alright, that wasn't too bad…. I can do this.* She chanted in her head. *But even if I could get over this whole wrapped-in-a-towel situation, how can I possibly get over the fact that _he _is the new Hokage?* She pondered dejectedly as her mind kicked into gear and embarked on a trip down memory avenue….

**6 Years Ago:**

Tsunade sat calmly, her elbows resting on her desk and her hands intertwined slightly and covering part of her face as she contemplated the people standing in front of her.

She wasn't happy about what she was doing; she always adopted that posture when she had to do something that she deemed as unpleasant. Unfortunately for her, she had been doing a lot of unpleasant stuff lately, now that she has accepted the position of Hokage.

However, as unpleasant as what she was about to say was, it needed to be said and so she started, "I have gathered you here today to talk about your team's situation." She declared, making sure to throw sidelong glances at the team members in order to convey to them that she was addressing her words to them and not only to their sensei.

Kakashi's visible eye didn't show any expression. Not that she expected it to; the man was an expert in remaining cool. "Our team's situation?" He repeated in question format. "I am not sure I fully understand, Hokage-Sama." He added calmly. "What might this situation be?"

"Well, the situation is that you are not a team." She replied, getting straight to the point. She had no intention of babying them or pulling any punches.

"What!" Naruto blurted. "Why are you saying such a thing Bachan?"

Tsunade eyed him with an unaffected gaze, as she noted the fact that next to him Sakura flinched at her statement, her face going completely white, while Sasuke seemed completely unmoved.

Purposefully and temporarily ignoring the 'Bachan' part of Naruto's statement, Tsunade continued, "I am saying that because it is the truth."

"No it's not we are a team we are…" Naruto started but Tsunade didn't wanna hear any of it.

"Really?" She questioned calmly. "Then tell me this: isn't today the first time you've all been gathered together in two months?"

Naruto faltered a bit and Tsunade saw realization dawn in Kakashi's eye. Now he realized how serious this was and the Hokage was glad to see it.

"Hai, but ever since the Chunin exams we've all been working very hard in order to get better so we can become Jonin as soon as possible, I mean…."

"You mean you have been undergoing solo training with that perve Jiraiya, right?"

"Hai." Naruto affirmed.

"Meanwhile, ever since the exams, Kakashi and Sasuke have been having their own training, right?"

"Hai." Once again, Naruto nodded.

"And of course for the last year Sakura has been training with me."

"Hai." He affirmed.

"The last time you three came together was for a mission two months ago, right?"

"Hai."

"And right after you preformed what was asked of you, you each went your separate way."

"We are training Bachan…"

"You are training alone." She enunciated. "Each of you has sought out a separate mentor. You barely see each other, only meeting to perform missions. And even your missions have become few and far between."

"If I might intervene, Hokage-Sama,"Kakashi intercepted. "We needed to scale back our mission load because of Naruto's involvement with Jiraiya-sama."

"So you are saying that because I did not reject Jiraiya's request to take the brat with him on his recon missions, it is my fault that he hasn't been around that much and your team hasn't been able to perform many missions."

"I am not insinuating any such thing." Kakashi said easily. "I am merely reporting the situation at hand."

"I see." Tsunade said with a raised eyebrow. "But even if I accepted Jiraiya's request, it was you Kakashi who allowed him to train Naruto in the first place. And it was you brat who wanted to train with him and not with your team."

"It's temporary Bachan, Ero-senin is just teaching me some stuff that I need and then I will be back."

"Temporary is a couple of weeks, not a year." The blonde Hokage deadpanned. "How about the other two members of the team, what do you think about your team's current situation." She questioned addressing the still silent Sakura and the completely uninterested Sasuke.

Sakura looked every bit as confused and flustered as she was. "I don't really know." She piped up. "I mean it is true that we have not been together for a long time."

"Sakura-chan don't agree with what Bachan is saying! Even if we don't get to see each other too much we are still a team, we are family." Naruto interjected and in response Sakura gave him a kind look. Those words seemed nice to her despite it all. She was touched by the fact that even though he was the only person speaking up for their team, Naruto was not faltering. Maybe she should do the same. Maybe she should believe that they are team no matter what and that they would get over this slump. After all, they did get through a lot together.

Sakura smiled.

"Hai, I guess I agree with Naruto," She said with new found resolution. "We've been together for a long time and we have been through a lot as a team."

"So you think you are a team?" Tsunade questioned, but her eyes had already selected Sasuke as the target of said question. "Do you, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke's attention was finally engaged, and he opted to answer the question in one single word, "No."

At that Naruto gave an incredulous scream, while Sakura was momentarily shocked, before her mind informed her that this kind of response should be no surprise coming from Sasuke.

"And why is that?" The Hokage questioned, ignoring the incredulous rant that Naruto has just embarked on.

"We needed to be a team in order to pass the Chunin exams, because of the exam's requirement. However, now that the exam is over we could afford to go our separate ways. The training that I undergo will not fit anyone else. This explains the fact that we no longer come in contact with each other. We do not need each other anymore. There is no need for us to remain a team." The young Uchiha stated in an impassive tone, leaving his two teammates to stare at him in disbelief.

"What the hell are you saying, Teme!" Naruto screamed.

"I believe he is saying that your team is no longer needed." Tsunade concluded.

"If I may interject, Hokage-sama….." Kakashi started.

"There is no need Kakashi. I have been keeping an eye on your team for a while now. With Naruto's removal it no longer seems that there is anything left to keep this team together. I am training Sakura, and you are training Sasuke, while it is best for Naruto to seek the guidance of Jiraiya. Meanwhile, Sasuke has already decided that he does not wish to be part of the team. He prefers to train alone. Naruto, while saying that he appreciates the team, would rather train with Jiraiya. And Sakura has such halfhearted feelings about the whole thing. Such bad morale amongst the team could have detrimental effects on their on-field performance. Teamwork is the cornerstone of what made team seven good, but now banding together would be very hard and your team's performance will definitely be affected. However, I want none but the best and most coordinated and unified teams representing Konoha. I waited for a year hoping that the three of you would find each other, but this did not happen. Which is why, I see no reason for this team to be kept on the roaster in its current state as an honorary team, while it neither trains nor stands together. And as Sasuke said, after passing the Chunin exams it is acceptable to become a solo Shinobi, you could be attached to existing teams for particularly tricky missions, not to mention that once you become a Jonin you will be reassigned to new teams anyway. Thus, I see no need for team seven's continued existence…"

"Bachan, wait…"

"Shishou please….."

"Tsunade-Sama….."

"Team seven is hereby _disbanded_."

.

It was incredible, unbelievable.

Yes, they didn't see each other for the better part of a year, and Sakura was well aware of the fact that things were different, even on a personal level. However, it always felt as if they would one day return to how they used to be, to being a team.

Sakura wandered around distractedly for more than two hours. She had no idea what to do or where to go.

After the Hokage made the startling announcement, Naruto threw a huge fit, calling everything unfair and proclaiming that he will end his training with Jiraiya immediately and come back. However, this did not seem to change the woman's mind. Consequently, Kakashi asked the three youngsters to leave so that he could talk to the Hokage alone.

On that note, Sasuke turned around and walked out.

Seeing him go, Naruto completely flew off the handle and raced after him in order to 'Kick his ass.'

This left Sakura behind, eyes drifting from her sensei to her Shishou and back. It was true that she could never bring herself to forgive Kakashi for turning on her and suddenly regarding her as useless. The man did discard her for a year, only popping in every month to see if she was training. But still, he was her sensei. Her first sensei, the guy who taught her quite a lot, and even with all the rage and hurt that she felt because of him, she couldn't imagine not ever being a team again.

Sakura was then ordered to leave by the Hokage, before Kakashi told her to get the boys and meet him at Ichiraku's in exactly three hours.

Immediately she walked out and sent notices to her two teammates to inform them about the meeting. She surmised that they were probably fighting at the moment.

With that done, the girl just started wandering aimlessly, and without knowing how, the three hours were over and she was walking towards Naruto's favorite haunt.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto screamed/greeted once he caught sight of her.

Her trained eyes quickly scanned him, noticing the various cuts and bruises that covered him. However, the girl couldn't bring herself to comment. So she forced a smile.

"Oh, you're here, I was worried you hadn't gotten my message." She said.

"Oh no, that little slug told me to be here." He assured her. "It's really slimy though." He commented and Sakura could tell that he was forcing himself to adopt his normal light mood.

"Yah." She said, also attempting to sound normal.

The two then fell completely silent as Sakura took a seat by Naruto's side.

It startled the two to no end when Kakashi appeared almost immediately, and without being even one minute late.

*This is bad. It must be very bad for him to arrive on time.* Was the thought shared by the two.

"Sensei." They both piped up the second they saw him, and it sounded more like a question, a plea for assurance.

"I see Sasuke-kun is not here." Kakashi commented.

"He must have missed my messenger." Sakura said, eyes alight with concern.

"No he didn't." Naruto commented from her side. "We both got your slug when we were fighting. He knows that he should be here."

"Oh." Sakura said, deflated.

"I see." The copy ninja said. "Well in that case I will tell the two of you. I talked to the Hokage about allowing our team to operate on probationary basis. She eventually agreed to that, however, she has a condition."

"A condition?" Sakura questioned.

"We'll do anything." Naruto said without missing a beat. "I am sure I managed to beat enough sense into that bastard Sasuke for what he said back there. He'll behave now."

"Let's hope he does." Kakashi stated. "Because the Hokage's condition is for all three members of team seven to come to her and convince her that they want to be a team again. We were given till tomorrow morning to get all the members of team seven on board."

"I'll make him go and we'll all tell her that we want to stay together." Naruto declared enthusiastically.

"You can't make him, Naruto." The silver haired man stated. "If Sasuke does not wish to be part of this team anymore, then forcing him to say it will solve nothing. The Hokage is right."

"Sensei what are you saying?" Sakura questioned, as Naruto's eyes widened.

"I am saying that you can't be a team if a member of the team is unhappy and disconnected from the rest of the members. Not only will that affect your spirit as a team but it will also affect your performance and most probably put your lives in danger. Today you have heard him say that he does not wish to be part of this team. Hearing something like that and knowing that he does not wish to stay part of the team, even once, must have affected your bond and your sense of comradery. So do not take this lightly." The copy ninja explained.

Both Naruto and Sakura remained silent for a long moment afterwards.

"Naruto may I have a minute with Sakura?" Kakashi said in his trademark easy tenor. Listening to the way he spoke, one would never have been able to guess just the amount of pressure they were under at the moment.

Naruto nodded and hopped off his chair. It was a testament to how emotionally shaken the blonde was, that he actually followed such an order without whining or asking why.

When Naruto was a safe distance away, Kakashi spoke, "Sakura, for the last year you have been training with the Hokage." He stated simply, and Sakura's brows furrowed in confusion.

"Hai." She said in hopes that he will explain further.

"Initially, it was your request to be allowed to train alone." He spoke, once again in that easy yet cryptic tenor.

*Is he trying to blame me for what happened?* She pondered, her mind frantic. *Is this his way of saying that had I not asked to train alone, this wouldn't have happened? But I only did that because he ignored me. It wasn't my fault.* She concluded, mind swimming with sadness and outrage.

When he got no answer, Kakashi pushed on. "Of course I allowed you to go until Naruto returns. I did not at the time know that his training time with Jiraiya-sama will end up being this long." He paused, eyeing her searchingly. "I also did not know that you will seek out the Hokage's assistance and enlist her help as your own sensei."

At that, Kakashi paused again and watched as Sakura's eyes widened.

The girl's mind was racing. She couldn't fathom the fact that he was actually blaming her for what happened. Had he helped her more, had he not dedicated every second of training to working with Sasuke, had he given her some attention, some validation, this wouldn't have happened. She only left because he pushed her to it. And even when she asked to leave she was wishing that he would ask her not to. How dare he accuse her of being at fault? He betrayed her, did he not understand that. He was her sensei, she trusted him and then he suddenly started treating her as a nobody.

Sakura's mind was overflowing with such thoughts.

She wanted to throw them in his face. She wanted to shout at him. But he was her sensei, this was unheard of. How can she possibly tell him any of that? What will he think of her? He'll probably think she was a whiny little brat.

Kakashi eyed the girl for two silent minutes, before he spoke again, this time his voice was deeper, more authoritative as he said, "I am sure that having asked the Hokage to be your mentor is what alerted her to the situation of our team."

Sakura's eyes widened, fists balled up, as she instinctively shot to her feet.

She didn't wanna say anything; she didn't wanna confront him with how she felt. She would rather have him think that she didn't care about whether or not he paid her attention. But her body seemed to be rejecting the idea of staying silent. It was as if her every nerve was acting against her at the moment.

For his part, Kakashi watched her with an empty expression, as if waiting for her to talk. His visible eye darkened a bit when the girl once again regained control and forced the words back before they reached her lips, standing there right in front of him literally shaking from head to toe.

Kakashi spoke again, his tone flat out menacing, "I am saying that this is your fault, Sakura." He declared.

"NO!" She screamed relinquishing all control. "It is not my fault!" She yelled again.

At that something in the man's expression changed, but the girl was way too enraged to notice anything at the moment.

"It is not my fault, for months I came to practice and worked my hardest but you completely ignored me. It was never like that. Before the Chunin exams you used to work with all of us. And right after we passed the exams you told us that you were going to start helping us all with our weak points. But you weren't helping me at all. You only helped Sasuke, while ordering me to stand to the side. You never even gave me a comment on whether I was getting better or a critique when I got worse. Did you know that I once spent an entire training session crying! Do you know that at another training session I wandered off halfway through and you never noticed? How do you expect me to keep working like that? When you don't even care about me at all. All that mattered to you was Sasuke. You think I am useless. I know that. You didn't even ask me to stay when I said I wanted to leave. And when I started training with Shishou, you didn't even comment. So it was your fault! Not mine. It was yours!" She concluded, still shaking, and breathing really fast, while valiantly stopping all tears, and affecting a veneer of fortitude.

A few seconds passed, where Sakura attempted to steady her breathing. Her eyes were blurry and once they settled she was almost too dumbstruck to register the fact that even with his mask covering his face, the facial expression that her sensei wore was undeniable.

*He's smiling!* She thought in shock.

"So you finally said it." He said, his voice light and humorous.

"Whaa….." was all she managed.

"I have been waiting for you to snap at me for over a year, Sakura. In case you haven't noticed I started ignoring you even before Naruto left."

"You….. What?"

At that his masked smile widened, and his visible eye crinkled in a way that was both mischievous and kind. This was an expression way too familiar to Sakura, an expression that she hadn't seen for over a year.

"You were doing it on purpose?" She concluded in a barely audible ghostly tenor, her face going completely pale.

He nodded.

"W….. Why?" She stammered.

"During the Chunin exams I got to watch each of you operate under adverse conditions. And when I said that I was going to help each of you improve at your weakest points I meant it. This is why I asked Jiraiya-sama to help with mentoring Naruto."

"You asked him?" She questioned in awe.

"Yes." He said simply. "It was upon my request that Naruto started working with Jiraiya-sama. I knew he would be able to help Naruto with his most pronounced problem. You see, Naruto uses brute strength to deal with almost every situation. However, during the Chunin exams it became harder for him to rely on mere strength and it became obvious that in order for him to go further he will need to develop his ninjutsu and learn various techniques. Unfortunately, attempting to teach Naruto to use the traditional means is useless. He needs to be able to create his own brand of ninjustsu. I believe that Jiraiya-sama is the one most capable of helping him develop his own ninjutsu."

"Oh."

"And as for Sasuke, there were two major issues that stood out during the Chunin exams. To start with, his mastery over his sharingan was quite limited. To put it simply, he had a lot of potential, and he was barely utilizing any of it. Sasuke's second issue had to do with teamwork. You see, Sasuke's older brother became a Jonin at a very early age. He was a solo fighter for a very long time too. And it has always been Sasuke's desire to catch up to said brother."

"Is this why he wants to stop being part of the team?" Sakura questioned.

Kakashi nodded. "Yes, he views the fact that he has been forced to rely on the two of you during the exam as shameful. And right now, he wishes to free himself from the team and carve out his own path in order to follow in the footsteps of his brother." Kakashi paused for a second, levelling a thoughtful look at the now dumbstruck Sakura.

"As for you Sakura-chan," He started again and it was all the girl could do to stay calm. "I have watched you very closely during the exams. And I became certain of something that I have long since doubted." At that he stopped.

Sakura twitched with anticipation.

"Wha…. What is it?"

He regarded her for an excruciatingly long moment.

"You tell me, Sakura… What is it that was wrong with you during the exam?"

Sakura was shocked for a second before soldiering through. This was no time to hold back or hide, and when it came to listing her flaws, the girl was an expert.

"Everything." She said honestly.

"Everything?" He repeated.

"Yes, everything. Everything was wrong with me. I was weak in every regard. I had to be protected by both Naruto and Sasuke and I barely did anything useful."

"So you are saying that you were useless?"

"Yes." She said without thinking, before her eyes widened with both realization and horror.

Kakashi gave her a kind look.

"I can tell that you have finally figured out what I meant, Sakura. A few minutes ago you accused me of thinking that you were useless. But it was you who thought so all along, wasn't it?"

Sakura merely looked back at him in sheer shock.

Kakashi inhaled deeply before leaning back. "You see, during the exams I realized that your self-confidence was almost nonexistent. You stood behind your two teammates as they fought, not because you were truly weak but because you believed yourself to be so. You were too afraid that if you stepped forward and joined the fight you would end up getting in the way and causing them harm, so you merely hid behind them. During your day to day life, Sakura, you seek reassurance all the time. You train hard and study even harder, all in an attempt to gain some acknowledgement to boost your confidence. This was your main problem with me during the last year, I didn't give you neither acknowledgement nor reassurance, both of which you need in order to deal with your reduced levels of confidence. Not only that, but you care too much about what others think. You want to be liked, which is why you barely ever speak your mind. And this is the very reason why even though I completely ignored and made light of your training, you did not think, not even once, of bringing it up with me for fear that I might dislike you. Even though I acted rather cruelly towards you, you chose to walk away instead of facing me. And I allowed you to do so. It was my intention to provoke you past this state of complacency and self-deprecation. I wanted you to discover your own worth. I wanted you to attempt to get better and believe that you can actually improve and fight by and for yourself. And last but not least, I wanted you to face me, to tell me how you felt without caring what I might think of you. It was my desire for you to break all the chains that constantly held you back, Sakura."

"Sensei…. You…."

"When I said that it was your fault just now, I was merely attempting to provoke you into speaking up. A year ago this would have never worked. You would have simply bowed your head and said 'please forgive me sensei, I will work harder.' This is not the case now; I believe that you have made some incredible headway during this year. But you still have a long way to go."

"I…..I….." Pause. "I will get better." Was the first sentence she managed.

Kakashi smiled again.

Sakura watched him for a few minutes, her mind attempting to sift through all that he has just told her. So he doesn't think she's useless after all. It was her who thought so all along. This made sense; this made a lot of sense. "But it was still so mean of you sensei." She finally whined.

Kakashi chuckled softly. "It's called tough-love." He said with a shrug.

Sakura was about to say something else, but all further conversation was suspended when Naruto reappeared, panting and visibly flustered.

"He refused to meet me. Teme that Bastard gave the security of the Uchiha compound an order to not let me in." He roared.

Sakura blinked.

Yes, they needed to convince Sasuke to remain part of the team if they wanted to have any chance of staying together.

"He is convinced that he would be better off alone." Kakashi said evenly.

"But sensei, I am sure you can convince him…" Sakura started, but trailed off when Kakashi shook his head.

"During the last year I was attempting to change his mind. However, he is quite determined. I could tell him to stay. And I am sure that if I issued it as an order he would in fact stay. But as I told you, Sakura, having him stay against his will would only harm this team."

"I will get him to agree to come back Kakashi-sensei." Naruto declared.

"Actually, you're going to come with me to the hospital, Naruto." Kakashi said, getting to his feet.

"Wha…"

The girl nodded her agreement, "I didn't wanna say anything before, but you look horrible, Naruto." Sakura said with a grimace.

"I fought the Teme a while ago, I am fine now. I heal fast."

"You still need to go to the hospital for a checkup." Kakashi said, walking towards the blonde.

"But… But…. I can't…. how about Sasuke-teme…. We have till tomorrow. If I don't get to him now…."

"I'll go." Sakura piped up.

"Sakura-chan…."

"I wanna give this a try." She declared. "If at all possible, I would like for us to stay a team."

.

With that said, Sakura made her way to the Uchiha compound.

This place was legendary; she's often passed by the intimidatingly huge gates of the compound and admired them in awe. She'd wonder at how life might look like behind those gates. And back in the days when she liked Sasuke she'd actually slow down whenever she was passing the gates in hopes of getting a glimpse of what was within. She'd then spend the next two days fantasizing about being Sasuke's wife and living with him in this compound.

Those dreams are long since gone now.

But by God the gates were still as imposing as ever, the huge Uchiha fan encrusted almost too threateningly on the large metal gates made it look as if no one was welcome here.

Sakura gulped.

"E…. Excuse me.." She said, forcing her voice up to an audible level as she addressed the two guards stationed at the gate. "I am here to see…. Umm… Sasuke-kun." They gave her a disapproving look. "Umm…. Ano… I mean Sasuke-san….. Sama?" One of the guards nodded. "Well…. Yah, I guess, I am here to see Sasuke-sama…. I am his teammate… Sakura….. Ah… Haruno…. Haruno Sakura… Yah that's it…. Haruno Sakura."

The guys exchanged a brief look and Sakura was absolutely certain that they were about to shoo her away.

However, a second later one of the guys turned around and pressed a button near the gate.

"Hey, it's me…. I have a girl here for Sasuke-sama…" The guy started, he appeared to be hearing sounds that Sakura couldn't hear, and from the fluctuations in his Chakra, she could tell that he was now talking to someone via some sort of communication technique. "She says her name is Haruno Sakur… Oh… Lady Uchiha…" The guy blurted, suddenly standing a bit taller. "Oh… Yes Madame, I was just telling Mai-san that…. Yes… Yes… there is a girl here for Sasuke-Sama… Yes…. Yes I am sure that she is a girl. Yes, definitely for Sasuke-sama.…. Right away Madame."

And with that the Chakra fluctuations leveled.

*Madame? Is that Sasuke's mom? And why was she asking if he was sure I was a girl? Well, at least he said that I was. I wish Ino was here, she'd have to admit that people actually do acknowledge that I am female… Damn Ino…..*

Sakura's diverging train of thought was interrupted when the formidable gate started to move.

"Welcome Haruno-san." The guard said with a bow.

Sakura blinked.

"I… I can go in?" She questioned in disbelief.

The guy raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh… I mean, thank you."

"They're waiting for you at the main house."

"The main house?"

Now the guard was the one to give her a disbelieving look.

"The main house is the dwelling of the main family." He explained.

"Yes… Right…." Pause. "And how do I get there?"

"It's the huge house right in the middle of the compound." The guy said sounding incredulous. It was apparently unforgivable to not know about the main house.

The other guard, who has watched the entire interaction silently, evidently took pity on the visibly confused girl and decided to help. "Don't worry, just go straight forward and you'll find it. There is no way you would miss it."

She gave him a thankful smile and with a bow, she stepped into the renowned compound.

It was true, there was absolutely no way anyone would miss the main house.

It was gigantic and built like a modern day palace.

Sakura felt like a pauper just looking at it.

*Calm down, Sakura…. I have to do this…..* She chanted as she walked to the door.

Yes, she did. She needed to do this. After a year of struggling, a year of working her ass off in order to prove herself and become good enough, she realized that the problem has been her all along. She wasn't wronged by Kakashi, she wronged herself. She regarded herself as useless, but not anymore. She won't run or hide anymore, she won't doubt herself anymore, she won't hide her opinions anymore. If anything, this year has taught her that much.

It started with the stranger she met; the one who gave her the courage to move on and told her to write her own destiny and allow no one to tell her who she was. Just thinking about him, and the fact that he is probably somewhere watching over her, gave her courage. And then there was everything with Kakashi and Tsunade. In just one year her life has changed, she's become better, stronger, and from now on she was going to keep going. She will never settle again.

On that thought she knocked.

A second later the door flew open revealing the most beautiful woman Sakura has ever seen.

Long raven hair flowed down to her waist. She was tall and slim and obviously not too old, yet she carried herself with enough grace to have everyone who laid eyes upon her recognize her superiority.

Sakura's eyes finally travelled to the woman's face and were greeted by the most brilliant of smiles; the girl was almost startled by the welcoming aura that now surrounded the beautiful lady.

"You're Haruno Sakura. I am so happy to see you dear." The woman cooed.

Sakura just blinked up admiringly at her.

"Oh, forgive me dear. I am too enthused. It's just that Sasuke has never had a girl come over before. It was always just Naruto-kun who came over from time to time. I am just too happy to know that he has a friend who is a girl. Oh this is great. I am Sasuke's mother, dear."

Sakura couldn't help but smile.

"I…. I am glad to be here." She said courteously. "Thank you so much for having me Uchiha-sama."

"Come in… Come in….."

"No… I mustn't."

"What are you talking about dear?"

"Please forgive me. It's just that I am here to talk to Sasuke-kun about something urgent. I just need to see him for a second."

"I am sure you could come and wait for him inside."

"Please, forgive me."

"Alright, darling, it's Ok… I'll go get Sasuke. Please wait here for a second. If you change your mind though, I have cupcakes inside." The woman offered enticingly.

Sakura smiled, before bowing deeply. And with that the woman was gone, leaving Sakura to wonder at how such a friendly character could actually be Sasuke's mother.

*Maybe He's adopted.* The girl pondered as she leaned back against the wall next to the still open door.

To say the truth, Sakura just didn't want to go inside. She felt too nervous. She didn't even know what she was gonna tell Sasuke. She didn't feel close enough to him to say anything, really. Now that she thinks about it, she spent her entire time before the Chunin exams crushing on the guy. He was always mean and she was always fawning, which left very little room for conversation or for actually getting to know him. Not to mention that the last serious convo they had ended in her flinging a log at him.

How could she possibly convince him to stay when he's never really taken her seriously.

Sakura sighed.

Maybe she needed to come up with points and order them in her mind so that she could know where to start and how to proceed when she was talking to him.

But unfortunately for the girl, before she could think up even a single point she heard footsteps approaching the front door.

"Alright, don't be late, dear." Mikoto's voice echoed.

Sakura immediately straightened up but kept her eyes on the floor.

She was too nervous.

That was it, Sasuke was already here and now for the first time in her life she was going to have to come up with a way to talk to him. Not fawning, not confessing, not flinging stuff, nope talking.

Sakura steadied herself as the footsteps reached the door and came to a rather abrupt halt.

Sakura looked up.

"Sas….." Was all she managed before her body went completely still with shock, heart thumping in her chest.

"You!" She exclaimed, and it came out as a breath.

That figure in front of her was not Sasuke. They had their similarities, the dark eyes, the raven hair, the stiff posture, but the aristocratic air that surrounded this one was almost palpable. And the intimidating yet way too familiar presence was unmistakable. Definitely not Sasuke!

*Oh. Kami.*

Sakura was too dumbstruck to even register the fact that other footsteps were approaching.

The girl only became aware of Sasuke's presence when he spoke, "Aniki."

Sakura's eyes widened, quickly snapping to the guy's face.

"You… You… You're his brother?"

"Good afternoon, Sakura."

**End of Flashback.**

.

Sakura's reflections were interrupted by a shift in the atmosphere of the room.

For a second there she almost forgot that she was hidden behind a curtain almost completely naked, as the new Hokage and the old one discussed business.

But as it would appear, the conversation was to be moved to another room.

"Alright, let's go finish my last batch of paperwork as the Hokage." Tsunade declared.

"I have to prepare some stuff first." Shizune remarked and from her voice Sakura could tell that they were near the door of the room.

"After you." Itachi said from the same location.

Sakura let out her breath, as she heard three pairs of footsteps head down the corridor.

She decided to wait for a few seconds before moving just in case.

*I can't believe I survived this one.* She thought happily.

And with that thought, and a relieved smile, she flung the curtain open and stepped out.

Sakura's smile was short lived though, for it was quickly replaced with a shocked expression, which almost immediately gave way to a look of sheer horror.

"You!"

"Good morning, Sakura."

* * *

**So as you can probably tell, after factoring in all the votes, it has been decided that I shall continue with this story and not end it at this chapter. And so we proceed…**

**Thank you all so much for your reviews and for the feedback ;)**

**Poor Sakura, now she's officially: "Towel Girl."**

**And basically, in this chapter, Itachi said "good morning" and "good afternoon". So many words…. He must be exhausted.**

**Now please review and he shall do a lot more talking.**


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